I started reading comics in '79. I basically learned how to read from a combination of Sesame Street and Spider-Man comics. From age six through fifteen, I read super-hero comics religiously. Back in those days, having a local comic book shop was a rarity. When we wanted to buy comics we went to the local convenience store or grocery store. A trip with my parents to buy groceries meant I would be leaving the store with the latest adventures of Captain America, Power Pack, or Firestorm. The loss of this market in the current comic marketplace is what I believe is making it difficult to bring in a new crop of young readers.
In 1988, at the age of fifteen, my interests changed, and I left my hobby/obsession with comic books behind. I missed most of the nineties (for the most part, this wasn't a bad thing). I didn't think about comics again until 1999 when everything came together to create a situation that brought me back into the world of comic book fandom: I had a job that gave me expendable income, the Internet let me take a glimpse of what was going on at the time in comics through fan sites and newsgroups, and I found a local comics shop. I've been reading ever since, and I don't foresee leaving again anytime soon.
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